Category Archives: Photography

W^2 – color

W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, October 23, 2024

looking straight up from the porch…. my favorite tree in the backyard Wednesday, October 23, 2024 3:46 PM

Yesterday, it rained for the first time in a couple of weeks. It didn’t rain much but our streak of clear skies came to a halt. it’s been a dry summer and early fall.

This morning it was overcast, and I couldn’t see the stars, or Jupiter, when I walked Ivy into the backyard for her morning business. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel well this morning and elected to use one of my sick days. By midday, the clouds had been replaced by a fabulous fall blue sky.

I was on the porch when I leaned back and looked up. This is what I saw.

Amazing, soon these leaves will carpet the backyard before being raked, bagged, and sent away.

The color this year has come late, but it is beautiful.  I am going to appreciate the color before it gone for the season. It’s been a full day, even for a sick day. I am feeling much better, and I’ll be back in front of my kiddos tomorrow. It’ll be a great day, maybe a million and six times better than today, but who knows. In the meantime, I am going to proof, edit, upload, then head to bed. Making the Days Count, when I am sick, when I am well, and every time in between.

How is the color in your world?

W^2 – squirrel

W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, September 25, 2024

This week’s photo isn’t a photo it’s a video of a squirrel with graphics.

A squirrel chirps away at me… Wheaton, IL Sunday, September 22, 2024 8:50 AM

Mr. Squirrel and I met Sunday morning, a little more than an hour after the autumnal equinox. I was sitting in the screened-in porch, the three-season room, minding my own business when Mr. Squirrel began chirping and chattering at me as if to say I was in the wrong place.

I took the video and sent it via text to O at college.

ME: Play this for Fern… let me know what happens

A couple of hours later….

O: She’s looking for a squirrel

I laughed, I figured right. Fern might not be able to recognize a photo or video, but she can hear and understand a mad squirrel.

My wife is doing better, and I am back at school. Three days in. It’s good to be back where I belong in September. Teaching kids and learning new things.

Today was an amazing day. I am hoping that tomorrow is a million and six times better. This morning, I started early and was out the door as the sun was rising. I am going to wrap up the day with this post and press publish. Making the Days Count, one day at a time making time, listening to the squirrel chirp making me smile.

So squirrels chirp at you??

W^2 – indecisive

W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, September 11, 2024

I am back at school, sort of.

It is good to be back at school. To be teaching and learning with kids and helping them see things from a new perspective. To have a schedule and do something productive. To be with colleagues who share your passion. To be growing with a purpose.

But sometimes you must be step back and take care of things at home. Since this past Monday, I’ve been at home taking care of things here. It’s my turn to be the caregiver. It’s hard. But it’s where I need to be. Forty years and almost thirty-three of them, married. I am thankful.

At school, my kiddos at school are in great hands. These are the same hands that took care of my kiddos when I had my second knee replaced in December 2018 and the same one who stepped up at 2 AM when my son had his motorcycle accident, five years ago. She’s been their countless times when I needed to be somewhere else, or when I was too sick to be at school. I am thankful.

I’ve been talking to her and hearing what my kiddos have been doing with her at school, while I am at home taking care of home. I am thankful.

This past summer was a whirlwind of sorts. heck, this past year!

summer’s last sunset (and a beer) Lake Margrethe, Michigan, August 31, 2024 8:03 PM

Summer finished at the lake with all of us – W, O, and B at the lake to close it down for the season. That’s the first picture. Continue reading W^2 – indecisive

Day 60 – the great blue heron visits

This morning, I woke up before Ivy and decided to go back to sleep, but before I could, I heard her stirring and quickly got up with her and got both she and Fern outside. When we were outside, I scanned the lake, and I noticed the heron was back. The heron was perched on the bow of Ely boat exactly where it was two days before. The heron didn’t seem fazed by the commotion of our morning routine and fortunately, Fern didn’t notice our visitor as she had Tuesday when the heron first appeared.

this morning’s phot, from the yard

Tuesday morning, I snapped a photo and sent it out on the family chat. Moments later W replied with a photo which he took the day before, on Monday.

Our Ohio friends are visiting this week. They arrived Monday afternoon well after our kids returned home after the race this past weekend. The race weekend was busy, and before our kids left, we took a family photo on the front steps. A family photo is something I have wanted to begin for a while, but I hadn’t done anything about it. There was a bit of grumbling, but we came together, and we have a family photo at the lake, the next time we take one it is going to include three generations, not two.

Tuesday afternoon, when we went out on the lake, we discovered evidence of the heron’s Monday visit to the Moomba on the tarp. Fortunately, it was a one-time visit.

This morning, after the dogs had finished their morning routine, I came inside and told my wife about the heron, and she got up to see it.

Normally, my morning routine is solitary – it’s just me and the dogs with my morning coffee. This morning, I had company.

It wasn’t long before H was down. I pointed to the heron, and we started talking about our visitor. While we deliberated, I remembered I had a copy of Sibley’s Guide to Birds. The guidebook was published in early 2020, and it helped us navigate the pandemic and I have a copy here and at home. It’s a great resource to have. Continue reading Day 60 – the great blue heron visits

W^2 – pretty girl

W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, July 24, 2024

It is Wednesday, almost Thursday. Fern and I wrapped up our business in Illinois and we loaded the car and drove back to the lake this afternoon. She was a fabulous driving companion and slept most of the trip curled up in the front seat or laid out in the back seat.

Fern with her paws on the guard rails looks down on the Au Sable River, Grayling, Michigan, July 21, 2024 10:18 AM

Last Sunday, Fern and I met B (my wife) at Stephan Bridge several miles downstream on the Au Sable River to watch the canoe racers pass through on their trip down the river to McMaster’s Bridge. It is a timing station for the BIG canoe race this weekend. It is also a great place to watch the canoes approach from down river, and if you are hungry there is an amazing restaurant on the south bank. Continue reading W^2 – pretty girl

W^2 – farming

W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, July 17, 2024

It is Wednesday morning, and I have returned to the lake after a quick trip to Houston and back. The lilies are still blooming, and Fern and Ivy are enjoying their time here, just as we do.

soybean field along highway US 61 near Holland, Mississippi. Sunday, July 14, 2024 12:29 PM

I flew to Houston last Thursday morning and drove back over the weekend stopping Saturday night at my favorite bed and breakfast in Vicksburg, Mississippi. I had gone home to collect a cedar chest which had belonged to my paternal grandparents and had been sitting in storage since we had cleared my stepmother’s apartment this past January.

I arrived in the wake of Hurricane Beryl to find Houston reeling in power outages, downed trees, and sweltering heat and humidity.  Though the latter is normal for summer in southeast Texas, the lack of power and air conditioning made conditions in the city much more unpleasant.

My trip was successful, and I was able to visit with my brothers and nephew, clear out the storage locker, collect the chest, and take in two baseball games at Minute Maid Park as well as collect more material, aka stories, to share through MakingtheDaysCOUNT.org.

I left after breakfast Saturday morning, and I took the long way home stopping in Vicksburg Saturday night. I had planned a side trip to Oxford to take one final look at Juliana’s home which sold in February ‘23 before finishing the drive home on Sunday.

In all there were three planned stops, at least 1,265 miles, and over 19 hours of driving. Continue reading W^2 – farming

Day 24: Creativity

It’s Thursday and it has been too long since I have posted anything on MtDC. Since summer began three weeks ago, I have been posting daily or almost daily on Instagram and if you follow along there, you’ll see the progress of my summer break. If you are curious, there is a sidebar of the blog – it’s a three by three graphic on the right-side.

Since my last post from 36,000 feet, I have been to Ohio and back, logged two more baseball games, served others at the food pantry, mowed the yard, spread mulch, cleaned up after a wild storm (which I slept through), collected the ends of branches the cicadas have snipped off, and much more.

When MtDC was in its infancy, I was posting almost daily. I don’t have the energy or creativity to keep up that pace today, though I do follow a couple of bloggers who do. If you are reading, you know who you are. It also seems the blogging community I connected with more than a decade ago has dropped off and their blogs are shutdown or static. At some point that will happen at MtDC, but for now I am simply too stubborn to let happen or stop. Continue reading Day 24: Creativity

that California trip …

It’s Thursday and I am sitting at the gate waiting for push back. After five baseball games and two days driving along the coast, I am headed home.

I am trying something new with this post. I am going to write directly into WordPress using my iPad and the plane’s WiFi as I fly home to Chicago. I have never posted from my iPad or typed directly into WordPress, so I’ll see how this goes.

the view from my seat over Colorado….

I was able to piece together the video below from Monday’s drive north along the Pacific Coast Highway. I uploaded the video to YouTube this morning and added the pictures at the airport before boarding.


It is Day Ten of summer break. This summer’s break is 76 days and like every summer before, I am going to Make the Days Count.

Yesterday, was a day game and a chance to spend an afternoon with my friend, Tonette. She and I worked together in the late 80’s until early 1990 when I lived in the Bay Area working in the restaurant business for Vie de France. All these years, we’ve kept in touch via cards, birthday wishes, Christmas cards, and Facebook ever since. The last time we saw one another was in 1995 when I was in Southern California opening a restaurant for Vie de France.

Won’t you get hip to this timely tip:
When you make that California trip
Get your kicks on Route sixty-six

Three baseball games in San Francisco, the first two were night games before yesterday’s day game.

San Francisco is not a new ‘baseball city for me, it was the third baseball city for me back in 1987. I moved to the Bay Area in June of 1987 when I worked for Vie de France. Monday’s baseball game was my first game in San Francisco since the World Series earthquake game was played on October 27, 1989; ten days after the devastating earthquake. Continue reading that California trip …

MtDC…

It’s April and we are at the lake for a short weekend getaway. My wife picked me up Friday after school and we drove up as day turned to night arriving before midnight. We will leave later this afternoon. Instead of chores I am writing a post, which was supposed to be a quick post.

yesterday evening’s sunset… they are never the same… created with Adobe Express

It all started in 2010 and it is difficult to believe I am still writing (and posting) at MtDC after all these years, but I am.

Last year, before school let out for the summer, I signed up for a professional development class hosted by Adobe for their new dynamic content creation software, Adobe Express. I’ve been using it to edit and create since; almost entirely on my phone where I take all my photos. There are desktop and mobile versions of the software, but they weren’t the same and frankly I preferred the mobile app for its convenience, but that changed Friday morning.

Sometimes, learning is difficult.

It’s been a couple of days of figuring things out. I’ve tinkered a little and used it to create a couple of images learning as I go.

When I started writing and posting, I wanted a logo that fit what I was doing. I created my first logo in 2010 and it stuck around until 2014. I changed it again in 2016 and it has been the site icon since.

Earlier this month I was tinkering with Adobe Express and created a new logo, the above logo. A couple of weeks ago I added it to WordPress as my site icon and planned to write a post but didn’t. This morning, I changed all my social media to the icon.

created 2024

So, here’s the post, a debut of sorts. Continue reading MtDC…

W^2 – history

WARNING: it’s Wednesday so I titled the post W^2, but it’s hardly wordless.

It’s spring break and we’ve escaped then blustery chill of a midwestern early spring for the Florida Keys and sun, wind, and sand. Mostly sun.

I remember my first visit to the Keys with my in-laws in 2002. Our son had recently turned four and my wife was pregnant with our daughter. We arrived in Miami and were picked up by my in-laws at the airport.

Until then, my only experience with Florida had been passing through the airport on the way to somewhere else: Venezuela or England to spend the summer or Christmas with my dad and stepmother.

With my father-in-law at the wheel we wove our way through Miami traffic to Homestead and US1. US1 is the only road from the Florida mainland at the tip of the Florida peninsula to the Keys where it terminates at Key West.

US1 travels along the path of the defunct Miami to Key West extension of the Florida East Coast Railway. Construction of the railroad began in 1903 and was completed in 1913. The railway operated until 1935 when the Labor Day hurricane washed out the rail bed in Islamorada and the railroad abandoned the railroad. Two years later the Florida Highway Commission purchased the right of way and began construction of a highway to Key West. They used the old railroad bridges constructing roadbeds atop the concrete viaducts and bridges built by the railroad. Over the years, the highway has replaced the original railway bridges with wider end more modern concrete bridges.

The view from the bridge to the Atlantic Ocean

The first several miles of the two lane road travel along the path of the old railway. First through the thick mangrove swamps and across Lake Surprise before reaching Key Largo where the highway opens up to the Atlantic Ocean on the left and Florida Bay to the right.

As the highway bridges were replaced, the original railroad bridges were left in place. Most have been repurposed as fishing platforms or observation decks and others have been left to decay and breakdown in the elements. The Seven Mile Bridge has a two mile extension from Knight’s Key Key to Pigeon Key open to walkers and bicycles with breathtaking sunset views.

Anyway, Tuesday afternoon my buddy and I (we are here with another couple) took off on an adventure stopping at the western approach to the Bahia Honda Bridge.

The original railroad bridge on the left and the new highway bridge on the right. Looking west from Bahia Honda State Park – photo from 3/28/2017

The old bridge has been abandoned since the present bridge was completed in 1977. The original railroad bridge is an iron trestle bridge which was only wide enough for a single railroad track and the passage of a single train. The highway engineers decided to construct a two lane road atop the railroad trestle to connect the two keys, or islands.

Continue reading W^2 – history